Born: Evanston, Illinois, USA

Carol Lems-Dworkin is an Americam pianist, teacher and scholar.

Carol Lems-Dworkin concertized extensively in major venues. "Her pianism is extraordinary," said the New York Times of her Town Hall performance. For her recital at Orchestra Hall (now Symphony Hall Center), a Chicago Tribune reviewer said, "Here was the Gothic Bach of great vaulted arches and heaven-climbing spires." He added, "There too was the obverse of this grandeur, the simple devout Bach musing at his keyboard, far removed from the world. It was complete piano playing and superb music making."

Carol Lems-Dworkin has taught music at Kendall College (where she was also Music Director), Northwestern University, Barat College, National-Lewis University, Chicago State University, and Chicago Conservatory College.

Carol Lems-Dworkin made six Bach recordings. In a recording review, Clavier Magazine said, "Bach playing to move the heart." To commemorate the 250^th anniversary of J.S. Bach's death, she has released an unusual new CD called, Bach's Ornaments: A Lecture Performance. The recording focuses on four of Bach's major ornaments and their associated signs - Trills, Turns, Mordents, and Appoggiaturas. Lems-Dworkin performs 33 excerpts of Bach's music, demonstrating his ornaments as sound-in-context, rather than merely signs over notes. A booklet explaining these often controversial ornaments accompanies the CD, along with a copy of the manuscript of Bach's famed "Explication," an ornament table he wrote for his son, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, and the only one surviving to the present time that explains how he wanted his ornaments interpreted. Her particular combination of performance prowess and academic experience makes Lems-Dworkin uniquely qualified to explain and perform Bach's ornaments.

Carol Lems-Dworkin is the author of three books about Africa and music: African Music: A Pan-African Annotated Bibliography; Africa in Scott Joplin's Music"; and Videos of African and African-related Performance: An Annotated Bibliography.

Source: Carol Lems-Dworkin Publishers Website
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (March 2007)

Carol Lems-Dworkin: Short Biography | Recordings of Instrumental Works

Links to other Sites

Carol Lems-Dworkin Publishers

Carol Lems-Dworkin (Independent Scholar, Evanston, Illinois)